


Freshman Year

by oddgit



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Because I had fun writing it, Classes, M/M, Minor Character Death, Nathan and Arthur and Lionel are amazing wing-men, Parties, Some smutty times later in the chapters, Young Love, have fun with this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-06-19 21:43:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15519225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oddgit/pseuds/oddgit
Summary: As if I don't have enough on my plate... here's a Rinch college AU hehe. It has been difficult to get anything done writing wise lately. I wrote this a while ago and some things happened and I just never got around to posting it.I hope you all enjoy!Special thanks as always to M_E_Lover for the beta and because she is a saint and always gives me the push I need and even sometimes the kick in the ass I need to get going. Thank you as always, my friend.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As if I don't have enough on my plate... here's a Rinch college AU hehe. It has been difficult to get anything done writing wise lately. I wrote this a while ago and some things happened and I just never got around to posting it. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy! 
> 
> Special thanks as always to M_E_Lover for the beta and because she is a saint and always gives me the push I need and even sometimes the kick in the ass I need to get going. Thank you as always, my friend.

John Reese was a college freshman. He was from a small town in Washington. Deciding that he wanted to get out of the state and experience big city life, he decided to attend Columbia University in Manhattan.

His father and he had butted heads when John told him that he wanted to go to college, rather than join the military, but John’s mother seemed to have put out the flames a bit while John was away at college.

It was about the third week of the first semester and John headed down to the library with his roommate, Lionel Fusco. He had his laptop bag slung over his shoulder and his books propped under his arm.

“STATS 242 is killing me. I can’t even understand the professor half the time. He’s like Swedish or something,” Lionel huffed and held open the door for John to enter in front of him.

“There’s tutors for a reason, Lionel,” John chuckled sitting down at one of the tables upstairs in the library. He opened his laptop and logged on. The rolling waiting screen popping up, granting him access.

“Yeah, I guess…” Lionel rolled his eyes and sat down next to his roommate.

John started to work on his essay. The different relationships of interpersonal communication was the subject. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to major in; he was just taking his prerequisites right now… but he was starting to lean toward communication. 

He was in the middle of typing his thesis when he heard a soft voice, “Excuse me, do either of you have a pencil I could borrow?”

He looked up to see a small, skinny kid with glasses and medium length, straight brown hair. John swallowed and blinked, not realizing why his mouth was suddenly dry and his palms were getting sweaty.

After a moment of awkward silence, Fusco kicked John’s leg from under the table. John broke out of his daze and cleared his throat, “Uh… yeah. Sorry…” He leaned over and grabbed a pencil from his book bag, “Here you go,” he smiled.

“Oh, thank you. I promise to return it,” the smaller man nodded with a small smile.

“Don’t worry about it. Keep it,” John smiled back. Hoping that his cheeks weren’t turning a bright red.

“Okay, well thank you.” Glasses turned around and headed back over to his table. He was there with two other friends. A taller, blonde kid and a short, stocky kid with black curly hair.

John kept staring at the little guy until Lionel kicked him again. John glared at him, “Will you stop doing that?” he hissed.

“Then stop staring,” Lionel chuckled and turned his attention back to his book.

John glanced back over at the other table. He watched as the smaller kid started to type on his laptop and then write things down as he went. John couldn’t take his eyes off him.

The smaller man had something about him… some quality to him that intrigued John. It was like he was just drawn to him.

 _Maybe it’s the glasses_. John chuckled to himself.

The thick black frames did look cute on his face. His bangs fell against them perfectly.

“Yo, you going to sit there and stare all night or are you going to write your paper?” Fusco broke him out of his daze. He looked over to Lionel to see him laughing at him.

“Yeah, yeah…” John rolled his eyes and turned his distracted attention back to his essay as best as he could, but he couldn’t help stealing a glance now and then.

#

Harold searched all through his book bag for a pencil, but couldn’t find one. “Nathan, do you have a pencil?”

“I only came here to try to convince you and Arthur to go to the party tonight, why would I have a pencil?” Nathan chuckled.

“Arthur?” Harold asked.

“Nope, sorry, Harold.” Arthur kept his attention fixed on the code he was writing for his computer class.

Nathan looked over toward the table where two guys had just sat down. A shorter one with curly brown hair and then a taller one with short, gelled black hair. “Why don’t you go ask that tall drink of water if he has one?” Nathan smirked.

“Nathan!” Harold hissed, “Must you always be so…”

“Cheeky?” Arthur said absently, not looking up from his computer.

Harold chuckled, “Exactly.”

“I’m just trying to get you some, Harold,” Nathan winked.

Harold just rolled his eyes. Nathan was the smuggest person he had ever met. He’d practically shoved Harold and Arthur out of their room on the first night because he brought a girl home. The following morning, Harold locked him out of the room while he was wearing nothing but his boxers… well… Nathan hasn’t done anything like that since.

Harold stood up with a soft groan and headed over to the other table, “Excuse me… do either of you have a pencil?”

Tall, dark, and handsome picked his head up from his laptop screen and looked at him. His eyes were so blue that Harold’s breath caught in his throat. He was staring at Harold, not saying anything. He gulped and hoped that his cheeks weren’t getting red.

His friend kicked him under the table and Harold tried not to chuckle. “Uh… yeah. Sorry…” He leaned over and Harold saw his arms. They were toned and extremely tan. Harold figured he must be from Texas or Florida. Maybe California. He almost looked out of place in the library, now that Harold thought about it.

He sat back up and handed Harold a pencil, “Here you go,” he smiled at Harold and he felt his heart beat a little faster.

Harold managed to say thank you without making a complete fool of himself and after toned arms told him he could keep the pencil, he backed away with a smile and felt his face still heated from the exchange.

He sat back down without a word. Nathan was staring at him with a grin on his face and Arthur had yet to take his attention off his computer screen.

Harold went back to his work from earlier until Arthur nudged his arm and had a sly smirk on his face, “So if we’re to assume by the color of your face, I’d say you may have just met your first college crush.”

Nathan busted out in laughter, prompting a mortified hiss to be quiet from Harold.

“I thought you were supposed to be on my side, Arthur!” Harold groaned.

“It’s an innocent question, my friend. It’s nothing to be ashamed about… you should go ask him out.” Arthur turned his attention back to the lines of code streaming across his screen.

“Better yet,” Nathan stood up. “Ask him to the party tonight. If you guys don’t show… I’ll be deeply disappointed. I can’t save your reputation forever, you know.” Nathan smiled and winked at the both of them before he made his way out of the library.

Silence filled the air between Arthur and Harold for a while until Harold spoke up, “He probably didn’t even notice me… worse yet, he’s probably straight”

“There’s no harm in asking, Harold…” Arthur looked at his friend, pushing his glasses up from the bridge of his nose. “Now please, while I’m enormously interested in your romantic life, I really need to get this done.”

Harold snuck another glance at the attractive young man then smiled and turned his attention back to his laptop.

#

John was sitting in class, waiting on the tech person to come in and fix the professors computer. Well, the tech people were usually just students who worked in the library.

Anybody in the class could have told her what was wrong, but then that would mean she would start the lecture again… and no one really wanted that.

He took out his phone and started to scroll through Twitter. He heard the door open and then his professor started to talk to whoever it was.

In the middle of his Twitter timeline, he heard a familiar voice. Where had he heard that voice before?

He looked up to see glasses hunched over his professor’s computer and logging her back into the network.

John chuckled a bit and sat up in his seat. At least now he knew where he worked…

#

Harold was sitting at his IT desk in the library flipping through his philosophy textbook. He enjoyed reading it even when it wasn’t for an assignment.

Thomas Hobbes was his favorite philosopher so far. He hated violence and believed that humans would never be satisfied with the power they have without acquiring more power. Something that Harold agreed with wholeheartedly.

He was engrossed in reading about Hobbes’ experiment on the state of nature when he looked up and saw tall, dark, and handsome walking in through the library doors.

He almost choked on his gum. How did he know he worked in the library?

“Hey,” he smiled at Harold and he got that strange feeling in his chest again. He could already feel his cheeks starting to get rosy.  

“Uh… hi,” Harold smiled back. “Do you, uh, are you looking for something?”

“Your phone number would be a good start,” he smirked. “My name’s John by the way.”

Harold swallowed hard, “Excuse me?” His brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed. Then it hit him, “Did Nathan put you up to this? Is that what this is?”

“I’m sorry?” He was obviously a good actor. Harold thought. He really looked like he had no idea what he was talking about.

“I can’t believe this. To actually think…” _I thought someone like you could actually like someone like me._ That was what he wanted to say, but the words stuck in his throat. “You were in the library at the table next to us last week and now you just appear here, where I work, miraculously at the same time my shift is.” Harold rolled his eyes and started to turn away, muttering to himself that he was never letting Nathan back in their dorm.

Then he felt a strong arm grab his elbow, “What in the heck are you talking about?” he chuckled. “I was in the library last week to finish my paper because I needed some COM books that I couldn’t find online. I saw you in my algebra class this morning and that’s how I knew you worked here. I’ve never met and do not know anyone on this campus named Nathan.”

Harold’s heart skipped a beat when he saw the sincerity in his eyes. He really meant it. He really wanted Harold’s number.

“You… you’re not just messing with me?” Harold gulped.

“No, why would you think that?” John huffed out a breath of air and looked confused.

Harold didn’t say anything. He couldn’t really think of anything to say. Living in a rural farm town in Iowa of less than 1,000 people doesn’t really give you a lot of dating experience.

“I’m sorry…” Harold huffed, “My friend… he’s rather…”

“Don’t worry about it,” John smiled. “How about we start over?” He turned around and walked out of the library. He did a U-turn and headed back towards Harold. “Hi, I’m John.”

Harold smiled at the sweet gesture, “Hi John. I’m Harold.”


	2. Chapter 2

Harold jogged through campus. He passed the communication building and took a left, heading back to his dorm. He loved to take early morning jogs; the weather in the fall was almost perfect. Not too hot, not too cold, and the air had a brisk feel to it. 

He looked at his watch to check the time when he felt someone run up beside him, “Hey.”

It was John.

He had his bookbag around his shoulders and was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. Hardly jogging attire.

“What are you doing?” Harold huffed out a small laugh and continued his run.

“Just got out of class. I saw you and figured I’d come say hi.” John huffed, already out of breath.

“Oh, well hello.” Harold glanced over at John and smiled. He slowed his jog to a brisk walk and looked to John.

“Thank you,” John huffed, taking a deep gulp of air. “I was going to ask if you wanted to come to a party at my friend’s frat house tonight?”

Harold thought for a moment, “Uhmmm…” He and John hadn’t really gone anywhere since their meeting last week in the library. It was just mostly texts and the occasional hang out in each other’s dorm room. “What time?”

“It starts at eight.”

“Okay… yeah that sounds like fun,” Harold smiled and took his glasses off to clean them, “Can I bring my friends?”

John looked like he was taken aback a little bit, “Uhmm yeah. Sure.”

“Okay. Which frat is it?” Harold put his glasses back on his face.

“Alpha Sigma,” John smiled and looked at his watch, “I gotta get going, I have an exam in ten minutes. I’ll see you there.”

“Yes, you will,” Harold smiled back and turned around to jog back to the dorms.

#

“John invited us to a party tonight,” Harold said absently as he got back from his morning run.

Nathan groaned and put his pillow over his head, “Harold… the reason I scheduled all my classes for the afternoon is because I don’t want to get up early…” He threw the pillow at Harold, hitting him in the face.

“If you wouldn’t stay out all night with Olivia…” Arthur smirked as he grabbed his back pack and started to head out the door. “I’ll go with you, Harold. It sounds like fun.”

Harold smiled at his friend and threw Nathan’s pillow back to his bed, “Are you coming or not, Nathan?” he asked his friend who slammed the door to the bathroom behind him.

“Yeah. I guess. Wouldn’t hurt to get to know your mysterious… well… what is he?” Nathan opened the door and pulled his shirt over his head.

“He’s a… friend…” Harold cleared his throat.

“Hmmm… I guess we’ll determine that tonight, won’t we?” Nathan winked at his friend and put his toothbrush in his mouth, “Gonna be real awkward if he offers to take you back to his dorm and you think you two are just ‘friends,’” Nathan chuckled.

Harold gulped. He turned around and collapsed down onto his bed. His heart was in his throat and his stomach was in knots.

He had never felt this way before.

“I’ll be fine…” he breathed out, running his hands through his hair.

#

“Hey, lover boy. How about you put the phone down for five minutes and help me finish _our_ project.” Fusco growled at John who was laying on his bed, holding his phone up in front of his face. “Glasses will still be there when you get back to it,” Fusco chuckled.

John gave him a dirty look and set his phone down onto his desk next to his bed. He grabbed the scissors from his friend and started to cut out the comment bubbles for their poster.

“I invited him to Joey’s party tonight…” John said absently as he continued to cut.

“Oh…” Fusco’s brow rose, “Is he coming?”

“Yeah… well he said he was…” John set the scissors down and started to get up to check his phone. He wanted to ask Harold if he was coming for sure or not.

Fusco grabbed his arm before he could stand, “touch that phone before we finish this, and I’ll cut your hand off.”

John rolled his eyes and sat back down, “Do you think he’ll come?” The smaller kid told John when they were hanging out one time, that he didn’t particularly like big crowds… so he felt bad asking him to go to this party. But John wanted to talk to him in a setting different than one of their dorm rooms, with their roommates there or through text.  

“He said he was going to, why wouldn’t he?” Fusco asked, his eyes squinted.

“I don’t know…”

Fusco started to laugh, “Relax, man. He’ll show up. You two are practically attached at the hip. He’s got it as bad for you, and you do for him.”

#

Harold got to the party with Nathan and Arthur later that night. When he walked in the door, it was packed. They could barely walk through the giant crowd of people and could barely hear each other speak because the music was so loud.

“Are you sure your boy is here?” Nathan asked.

Just then, a hand shot up in the middle of a crowd, “Harold!” John came running over to them, “You made it!” he smiled and hugged the smaller man.

Harold smiled and was taken aback a bit at the hug. He turned, “I brought Nathan and Arthur.”

“Hi guys!” John smiled and put his arm around Harold, “Let’s go get you a drink.”

“Oh. Okay,” Harold smiled. “Will you guys be okay?” he asked his friends.

“Yes, Harold. We’ll be just fine. Go have fun,” Nathan winked at his friend and Arthur grinned at him as well.

“Great! We’ll see you guys later.” John led Harold to the kitchen and grabbed a few bottles, “What’s you poison?”

“Uhmmm… I have to admit I’m not much of a drinker…” Harold’s face grew a little red.

“Oh. Well you don’t have to drink.” John smiled, “Is coke okay?”

“Perfect,” Harold chuckled a little bit at the fact that John had clearly already drank a few alcoholic beverages. He took the glass of cola from John and followed him out to a couple chairs outside on the deck.

John motioned for Harold to sit down and took a seat down next to him. Harold sat down, setting his drink into the drink holder on the arm of the chair.

“So, Harold… tell me about yourself.” John smiled and looked at the smaller man with his captivatingly blue eyes and Harold wanted to melt into them.

#

“I was voted most likely to rule the world in High School,” Harold chuckled. He never really had this easy of a time opening up to anyone before, but John was different.

“No, you were not…” John laughed. “That’s awesome!” He stood up. “Do you need another drink? Come on, let’s go get another one. Maybe some food.”

Harold stood up and followed John until they were stopped by a tall kid with short blonde hair.

“Hey, Johnny.” The blonde put his hand up to John’s chest to stop him.

“What do you want?” John growled. It was obvious they didn’t get along.

“Just saying hi…” the other kid smirked. “Who’s this?”

“It doesn’t matter…” John stared forward, not even looking at him. “Get out of my way.”

“Relax Johnny…” he huffed. “Hmmm. You could do so much better.” He motioned towards Harold and had a grin on his face.

Suddenly, John’s fist connected with the kid’s face. A harsh blow that sent him backwards with spit flying.

A crowd of people came running in and separated them. John had the other kid pinned down and was basically pummeling him into the ground.

“John! Get off him!” Harold dragged him to the other room with an arm around his chest. “Calm down…” Harold put his hands on his shoulders and made him look him in the eyes. He tried to calm him down because the last thing Harold needed was for John to get arrested. Not to mention getting caught at a party where there was under age drinking. He could practically kiss his scholarships goodbye. 

John looked at him and smiled, “Sorry… I had to defend your honor.” He winked at the smaller man.

Harold rolled his eyes, “Let’s get you out of here…”

#

“You know… you didn’t have to do that…” Harold said as they walked back to his dorm, his hands tucked into his pants pockets. “I’ve been called much worse…”

“I know… but it gave me an excuse to punch him. So, I thought why not?” John chuckled.

The two walked side by side all the way back to Harold’s dorm room. The thought of John actually punching someone because they insulted him, brought a smile to Harold’s face. No one had ever done that before. No one had ever made him feel so… special… before.

His relationship with John had always just seemed kind of like a close friendship. But tonight, it seemed like more than that. John had literally punched a guy in the face because he had more or less called Harold ugly.

He’d left home because he wanted to get out and experience the world. He never thought that he’d meet a handsome, tall, dark haired, cheekbones for days guy who actually liked him too. He had a few girlfriends in the past, one boyfriend who no one knew about.

Smallsville Iowa wasn’t exactly the place a teenager could come out of the closet and have everything be okay and not have the town gossip.

His parents knew. When he told his mother, she had just smiled and told him she already figured it out.

It took his father a little bit to warm up to the idea of it… but he had always been accepting of his son.

Harold’s junior year of high school, they started to see a change in his father. He would forget things, get depressed a lot, and was somehow just not himself.

It was when Harold came home after school one day to his mom sitting in the kitchen with tears in her eyes, telling him that his father had Alzheimer’s, that he realized he may not get to see his father grow old.

They finally reached Harold’s dormitory. He signed John in and they made their way up to his room.

Harold encouraged John to go over to his bed and guided him to sit down. “I’ll go get some ice for your hand…” Harold informed John, turning around to go to the ice maker in the small café downstairs in the lobby.

John nodded in acknowledgement and laid down on Harold’s bed.

Harold walked down to the lobby, his mind racing. Then Nathan’s words kept echoing in his head, _“Gonna be real awkward if he invites you up to his dorm and you think you’re ‘just friends’.”_

Harold had asked John back to his dorm because he didn’t want to leave him alone… He was obviously drunk… and the bruised and bloodied hand didn’t make matters any better. He hoped nothing was broken… maybe he’d call his mother… she was a nurse at the town’s small hospital back home.

He glanced at his watch, _1:04 a.m_. _Better not…_ Harold thought. He would either worry her by calling so late, or wake up his father who already had a terrible time sleeping.

Filling the bucket up with ice, he turned around to see Nathan and Arthur entering the front doors. “Harold!”

“I wondered where you two went…” Harold murmured, putting the lid back onto the bucket.

“Where _we_ went?” Nathan huffed, “you disappeared after your… friend… punched that guy in the face! Where did…” Nathan’s eyes gazed down to the bucket of ice… “You brought him here?” A sly smirk came to his face.

“I didn’t want to leave him alone, Nathan…” Harold hissed, his face pinking.

Then something happened on Nathan’s face… a look Harold had never seen before crossed over it and he smiled, “We’ll go stay at Olivia’s… her RA is passed out half the time before midnight, so we should be good.”

“Yes… I love sleeping on the floor…” Arthur groaned. “Have fun, Harold… we’ll see you in the morning.”

Harold smirked and let out a relieved breath, “Thank you… really guys.”

The two walked off without another word. Harold turned and headed back to the room. He opened the door to find John lying in his bed watching TV.

“Got the ice,” Harold started. “Nathan and Arthur are staying at Nathan’s girlfriend’s dorm, so you can sleep in either of their beds…” he gulped and cleared his throat.

John sat up and smiled, “Thanks.”

Harold sat down next to him on the bed and motioned for him to hold out his hand. “Are you sure it’s not broken?” Harold looked at the already swollen, bruised hand with a frown.

“Eh… I don’t think so. I can make a fist, so I think I’m okay,” John smiled and chuckled.

Harold smirked. He scooped some of the ice into a Ziploc bag and set it onto John’s hand carefully and wrapped an ace bandage around it.

The taller man hissed, “You have a first-aid kit in your dorm?”

“My mother is a nurse…” Harold said absently, putting some stuff back into the kit. “She likes me to be prepared. I don’t think this is exactly what she had in mind… but, pardon the pun, it came in handy.” he grinned.

John laughed, “Yeah, I guess it did…”

Harold put the first-aid kit back into the cupboard and moved back over to sit beside John on the bed with their backs leaning against the wall for support.

The two of them just sat there for a little pretending to have their attention turned to the TV playing in the distance.

John turned to him and Harold smiled nervously. Then John started to lean forward, and an overpowering feeling of desire rose up in Harold. His heart started to thrum faster in his chest and his mouth went dry.

John tentatively pressed his lips to Harold’s and he seemed unsure for a moment, but then kissed John back.

John’s hands moved slowly toward him, one on his arm, the other carefully laid on his neck, fingers playing at the hair on the nape of his neck.

Harold almost melted, letting his own hands settle on John's waist and he lost himself in the sensation of John’s warmth and strength radiating through his clothing.

Then he finally gets his wits about him and pulls back, his lips swollen and his chest heaving, “John. You’re drunk…” He wiped the back of his hand over his mouth.

John frowns, “I’m sorry…” He goes to stand up, but Harold’s stands up to stop him.

“No, wait… that came out wrong…” He waved his hands in the air. “I just mean… we should stop before we both rush into something we may not be sure about…” Harold cursed himself for the slip up and his face turned red. 

John smiled, “Yeah… you’re right…” He cleared his throat, “I’ll sleep in Nathan’s bed. I guess.” He sat down on the bed, “Are you sure you’re okay with me staying here? I think I could make it back to my dorm...” He went to stand up, but swayed some.

“No… no…” Harold chuckled, “Here is just fine…” He led John back to lie down in bed, taking the ice off his hand and re-wrapping it with the bandage.

“Okay…” John kicked his shoes off, “Thank you, Harold…” He murmured before turning on his side and seemingly falling asleep in seconds.

Harold smiled, “You’re welcome…” he breathed, a grin on his face that's wider and happier than he remembers himself having in a while.


	3. Chapter 3

John woke up with a groan. The pounding in his head was not a welcomed feeling.

“Morning…” Harold smiled. He was sitting in a computer chair at desk on the other side of the room. He had a cup of tea in his hand and was in sweats.

“Yeah… it is…” John put his hand to his head and rubbed small circles at his temples, “any chance you have any aspirin?”

Harold smirked and headed to the cupboard where the first aid kit had been. He shut the cupboard doors, which made John cringe in pain at the noise.

John accepted the pills and swallowed them down dry. “Thanks…”

“Don’t mention it,” Harold replied.

The awkwardness of the room made John want to throw up. Well it was probably the vast amount of alcohol that he had put down last night, but it was still terribly quiet, and he hated the quiet. “So…” John looked at the smaller man, “about that kiss…”

“Listen John, you don’t have to say anything… I understand if…” Harold started to retreat into himself and John could tell he thought that John was regretting it. That it was just a drunken mistake. But it wasn’t. John had wanted to kiss the small, adorable, funny, and genius kid since he first met him.

“Harold. Slow down,” John smirked. “I was just going to say, I hope we can hang out more like that in the future. Just… ya know, maybe not with me being so…”

“Inebriated?” Harold grinned, and John wanted to kiss his sweet mouth again.  

“Exactly…” John chuckled.

Harold looked at his watch, “I have to be at the library in 20 minutes…” he frowned.

John stood up and walked closer to Harold. “Okay, I’ll see you soon?”

“Absolutely,” Harold smiled.

#

The days went by and it was now November on campus.

Harold and John were laying on John’s bed in his dorm, watching Netflix on his laptop. “I don’t like scary movies… You know this…” Harold groaned as John selected SAW as their next movie to watch.

“Yeah, but I’m here to protect you…” John winked and pulled Harold into his arms.

The two were basically attached at the hip now. They hadn’t officially slapped the boyfriend tag on each other, but everyone knew they were basically in love. They went on a morning jog together every day. They went the same route every morning, through east campus and then down along the river, past the library and then back to Harold’s dorm.

“Oh, how brave of you…” Harold rolled his eyes with a smirk on his face.

The comfort that they found when they were with each other had never happened to either of them before. John would meet Harold at the library sometimes after his last class of the day. Most of the time he’d bring him Chinese food from the take-out place on campus and they’d eat together in the tech room.

Halfway through the movie, the laptop was discarded on the floor and John was lying on top of Harold, kissing him open mouthed.

“I haven’t…” Harold gasped between kisses. “There hasn’t been…”

"You think too much, Harold," John chides, kissing his jaw. His worry made him feel warm inside. He likes sex, the feeling of being intimate with someone for the first time, the pleasure of kissing and touching and finding a rhythm together. “We’ll go slow…”

“Okay…” Harold says. He sounds a little out of breath from kissing John. His neck is rosy and warm, and there is something ravenous in his appearance, like he found a taste for something that he didn't know he could have.

John slides his shirt over his head and tosses it on the floor. He leans down again and pressed his lips to Harold’s.

When he was about to unbuckle Harold’s belt, there was a knock on the door…

“Johnny? You in there?”

John shot up and his eyes went wide. “What the hell?”

Harold sat up, “What?”

“It’s my dad…”

“Your what!?!” Harold hissed. “Why’s he here?”

“I don’t know…” John grabbed his shirt off the floor and threw it back over his head in a rush. “You have to leave…” John whispered.

“What?” Harold huffed.

“He doesn’t know I’m…” John’s eyes flickered up to Harold, “you know…”

Harold’s eyes went wide. “Seriously?”

“Just a minute…” John yelled toward the door. “Yeah, Harold. He’s an army general with more testosterone than a bull. I don’t think he’ll exactly be ecstatic to hear that his only son is gay.” John ran into the bathroom and wet down his hair. “I was in the shower. We’re going to a club meeting tonight.”

Harold nodded and let out a breath.

John opened the door to reveal his father. Harold gulped when the tall, masculine man dressed in his formal army uniform walked in the door. He gave John a half hug, half handshake. “Son,” he started.

“What are you doing here, dad?” John chuckled a little nervously.

“I was in town for a training seminar and thought I’d stop by.” His father’s attention turned to Harold who was sitting on the bed quietly watching. “Who’s this?”

“Dad, this is Harold. He’s a friend. We have a group meeting tonight, so he’s just waiting for me to get ready.”

“Oh. Well hello, Harold.” He held out his hand to shake Harold’s.

“Hello, Mister Reese. It’s nice to meet you,” Harold started and stood up to accept the handshake.

“You as well,” he turned back to John. “So, do you have time to go to dinner tonight? After your meeting that is.”

“Uhmmm…” Harold could tell John wanted to say no. But the look his father gave him told him he’d better say yes. “Yeah, sure.”

Harold sat and watched while the two made plans for dinner, both hoping and praying that they wouldn’t invite him. He didn’t think that he would be able to do it. John’s father seemed like the type of person to ask a lot of questions…

“Harold? Would you like to join us?” John’s dad asked.

Harold saw John’s pleading eyes and something in his gut told him that he couldn’t say no. “Well, that sounds like fun. I’d love to…” Harold smiled.

“Wonderful. I’ll see you two later tonight,” he smiled and shook John’s hand again as he left.

Once John closed the door, he let out a breath and his head fell to the door. His shoulders slumped, and he looked absolutely exhausted.

“John?” Harold asked gently.

John turned around and smiled sadly, “I’m sorry. You don’t have to go to dinner if you don’t want. I know he’s pretty intimidating.”

“I’ll go,” Harold started. “He seems… nice. Besides, maybe if I’m there, he’ll go easy on you a little bit.”

John just huffed, “yeah, maybe.”

#

“So, Harold, what are you studying?” John’s father asked later that night at dinner, taking a drink of his water.

“I haven’t completely decided yet, to be honest. I’m just doing all my pre-requisites right now. But I am leaning more toward Philosophy.”

The older man’s eyebrows furrowed, “Oh. Well that sounds… nice.”

John cleared his throat, “So dad, how’s mom?”

“She’s good. It would be nice if you called her every once in a while. She misses you, you know, Johnny.” His father’s eyes narrowed.

“Yeah. I know…” John murmured.

“You chose not going to WestPoint for her… the least you could do is call her,” his father chimed in.

Harold almost choked on his steak. John had been accepted into WestPoint? And he didn’t go? Why didn’t he tell Harold about it?

“I didn’t pick Columbia for her dad. I picked it because it’s where I wanted to go,” John looked at his father with a glare. “Can we please just not get into this right now?”

The tone of John’s voice insinuated that he and his father had had this conversation before. More than likely many times. John’s father was a military man through and through, Harold could tell just by looking at him. John not following in his footsteps and going to WestPoint probably upset him.

“Whatever you want, John,” his father said.

#

“Well that was… fun,” Harold started as they got into John’s car. The dinner was just mostly awkward silence after the scene when John’s dad had brought up WestPoint. Harold had tried to strike up conversation, but it mostly just ended the same, with the only sound being heard was that of forks hitting plates.

“Yeah,” John gripped the steering wheel a little harder. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have had you come. He hasn’t always been like that. I mean don’t get me wrong, he’s always been strict. But we were really close until I picked Columbia over WestPoint; that kind of changed things between us.”

Harold frowned. It almost broke his heart to see the way John looked when he talked about his dad. And to find out that they were close before this, made matters even worse.

“Well… it’s not your fault, John…” Harold said gently.

“I know that,” John frowned. “Doesn’t mean it makes things easier or better.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ************ Shameless smut ahead

It was the day before Christmas break. The semester was wrapped up and John and Harold were spending one last night together before they both left campus and went home for a month.

“I can’t believe I passed Physics…” John chuckled, flopping down on the bed next to Harold. “All thanks to you,” he pressed a soft kiss to Harold’s cheek.

“You’re welcome,” Harold murmured and tackled John, landing on top of him. “How about you make it up to me?”

John’s brow furrowed, “Are you sure?” He surprised Harold and rolled over on top of him, pinning him to the bed, “We don’t have to…”

“I’m positive… it’ll give me something to remember you by during those cold, lonely nights in the middle of nowhere Iowa.”

“Oh, now that sounds intriguing,” John laughed, pressing soft kisses to Harold’s neck and lips. He slid his shirt over his head and tossed it on the floor.

That was the first time Harold had noticed the scar on John’s chest. Right above his collarbone. Harold was going to say something about it, but then John nibbled on his neck and Harold lost the ability to speak.

“We don’t have too…” John whispered. “If you’re not ready…”

“John… be quiet and take your pants off,” Harold huffed, a smirk on his face.

John unbuckled his belt and slid his pants off, they joined his shirt on the floor.

With a cocky smirk, one Harold knew all too well, John slid Harold’s shirt off and his pants followed as well.

He lowered to take Harold's lips in a gentle kiss, which quickly turned into passion. Hands slid down Harold's chest, followed by a hot mouth. Harold could only hold on, letting the sensations of heat slide across his skin. His hands gripped into the fabric that covered the bed, his body arched into each touch. John leaned forward kissing him, desperately before he settled between his legs.

Harold swallowed hard. He had been thinking about this for a while. The first time they’d have sex. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous. He’d never been with another guy before. He felt like he grasped the basic idea of it, but he also felt like he had no idea what to do. He almost felt giddy with nerves and excitement, like his entire body was on fire.

John knew he had never done this before, so he was taking the lead and going slow. A little slower than Harold would have liked in fact.

He gripped the back of John's neck and yanked him up into a hard kiss. He needed to feel all of him, wanted to be in his arms.

Harold felt slicked fingers at his entrance, and moaned embarrassingly loud as they entered him. The silent room was soon full of hot, breathy gasps as Harold panted and trembled at the sensation.

The moment finally arrived where Harold moaned, “John, please,” and John’s cock pushed gently inside him. John’s cock was heavy and hot, as it pressed him open, stretching him gradually.

“Oh God,” John groaned, the guttural sound almost a broken sob in his throat. The sensation of being inside Harold was ecstasy. “Harold,” he whimpered, sinking forward against the smaller man’s chest as he thrust into him gently. 

Harold was looking up at him with dazed, wide-eyed wonder and awe. John’s hand moved to clutch Harold’s engorged, aching cock, which was already beginning to seep precum, and they came at very nearly the same time. A glorious burst of hot wetness erupted inside Harold as John came with a violent force, shaking and trembling and sighing as he fell into his arms.

After a while, John rolled over and they were both lying on their backs, facing the ceiling. The sound of their heavy breathing was the only noise in the room.

Then John let out a huff of air and starts to laugh.

Harold looked over at him with his brow raised, and then he puffs out into laughter as well. “Well that was…”

“Fun,” John started, looking over at Harold with a smirk.

Harold sat up and kissed him, “what am I going to do without you for a month?”

“I know…” John frowned and kissed Harold, “I am pretty great.” The trademark smirk appeared on John’s face again and Harold slapped him.

“You had to ruin the moment, didn’t you?” Harold chuckled and brought John in for another kiss.

#

It was a couple days into Christmas break and the first day Harold was home. He was sitting on the couch in their farm house. His father was sitting in the chair next to the couch, watching the football game on the TV.

“How is school going for you, Harold?” his father asked. It was one of his more lucid days. The sad truth was that he didn’t have very many anymore.

His father hadn’t been that bad when he left for New York in August. But when he got home a week ago, his father was just a shell of who he used to be, things had progressed quickly.

“It’s good, dad,” Harold said finally. “I think I’m going to major in philosophy. I really like it.”

“That sounds great, Harold.” He turned his attention to his son, “are your grades good? That’s the important thing.”

Harold chuckled, “Yeah, dad. I made the dean’s list this semester. You guys will probably get a letter about it soon.”

The older man beamed in the chair, “Well would you look at that. My son, the genius,” he smiled. “I’m proud of you, Harold.”

“Thanks, dad,” Harold replied, clearing his throat and trying to hold back the tear that was threatening to break through.

Harold laid in bed, wide awake, with tears streaming down his face. He tried to stay quiet, but his mother eventually came into his room and sat down on the bed with him.

“I didn’t want to tell you…” she had said. “You were so happy whenever I talked to you. I didn’t want to spoil that. He’s still your father, Harold. Deep down in there somewhere is still your dad. You can’t forget that.”

They hugged it out, and Harold composed himself enough and told her to go back to bed. He spent the rest of the night facetiming John until they both fell asleep. Harold woke up to seeing only the top of John’s head and the sound of him snoring.

He hadn’t told John about his dad. He never liked the look people got when he told them. The way they pitied him and felt sorry for him.

His phone was about to die and knowing John, he wouldn’t be up for a few hours anyway, so he disconnected and grabbed his phone charger.

When he plugged it in, he headed out to the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone. It was something he missed since he’d been gone and knew it would bring a smile to both his mother and his father’s face.

#

It was Christmas morning and John’s little sister came running into his room to wake him up. “Johnny! Get up! Santa came!”

He groaned and rolled over. “The presents will still be there at noon, Sophie.”

“John, get up,” his dad said from the living room with his cup of coffee. “You’re playing Santa.”

He rolled his eyes and pushed himself out of bed. His eyes heavy with sleep, he walked out into the family room and put a smile on his face. “Merry Christmas, mom,” he leaned down and hugged his mom who was sitting in a chair beside the tree.

“Merry Christmas, John,” she smiled and kissed his cheek.

He unlocked his cell and sent a quick text to Harold, ‘ _Merry Christmas. Only a couple more weeks. Miss you.’_

“Put your phone away, John. It’s family time,” his father started. “Just because you get to do whatever you want when you’re in New York, doesn’t mean you can here.”

“Yes, dad…”

“You can drop the attitude too…” he shot back.

“Connor… can we please not start this? It’s Christmas…” his mother pleaded with sad eyes.

He sighed and changed the subject, “Give that one to your mother first. It’s from me,” he said with a smile.

#

Harold pulled out his phone, _‘Merry Christmas. Only a couple more weeks. Miss you.’_

He smiled and clutched the phone in his hand. He had honestly forgotten it was Christmas.

His father had an episode earlier. He’d awoken up in the middle of the night, trying to go to work. When his mother had tried to stop him, he got agitated and it resulted in Harold having to call his uncle over to help them get him back to bed.

_‘Merry Christmas. Miss you too. Can’t wait.’_

But the truth was, he didn’t know if he was going back. He couldn’t leave his mother like this… not when his father was getting so bad. She would need him for mornings like this. He could go back after they got things settled down a little.

He heard his mother call him out into the living room, so he set his phone down on his bed and headed out.

“Yeah?” he asked, sitting down next to her on the couch.

She handed him a present that was wrapped in red and green Christmas wrapping paper. “Merry Christmas,” she smiled.

“Mom, you didn’t have to…” he smirked and looked down at the present.

“Oh, just hush and open it…”

Harold smiled and started to tear away the wrapping paper and set the remnants down next to him. His brows furrowed when he saw what was inside. It was a copy of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. A philosophy book.

“Your dad told me you were really enjoying Philosophy. So, I did some research and saw that this was a “must read” on Google.”

Harold laughed, the thought of his mother on Google, well just using a computer in general, was pretty funny to him. It was also heartwarming that she went through all this trouble just for him. Especially when she had a lot more on her plate right now.

Then his smile turned to a frown. “Mom… I was thinking… I don’t think I should go back to school in January…”

His mother’s brow furrowed, “What?” she huffed.

“You need me here… to help with dad. You can’t do all this alone… This morning was bad and it’s just going to get worse…”

His mother smiled sadly and put her hand on his shoulder, “Harold… sweetie. I’m not going to let you put your life on hold for us. You’re going back to school. We’ll be fine…”

He went to object but she put her hand up, “and besides… I don’t think this ‘John’ will be very happy if you stay home either.”

Harold almost choked, “What? How did you…”

“I heard you talking to him the the one night I came to your room. I stayed for a little to make sure that you were alright…” She had an innocent smirk on her face, “I’m your mother, Harold. I know everything.”

He smiled, “thanks mom… you’re sure you won’t need me here?”

“I’m sure. Have you ever seen a situation I couldn’t handle?” she smiled.

Harold gave her a hug, “No… I guess not.”


	5. Chapter 5

John ran up the stairs and down the hallway toward Harold’s dorm room. He stopped in front of the door and took a calming breath and knocked.

Nathan opened the door, “Harold, your love-sick puppy is here,” he smiled and moved over to let John in.

“Nice to see you too, Nathan,” John smiled.

Nathan smirked and was pushed out of the way by Harold, “John! When did you get back?”

“Just this morning,” John chuckled. “Hey, can we maybe go somewhere more…” He glanced over to Nathan and then to Arthur who was sitting at his laptop, “private?”

Harold’s brow furrowed, and he gulped, “uhh… sure…”

Harold grabbed his coat and headed out the door with John. They walked through campus. Harold’s head was spinning. What could John possibly want to talk about? Was he going to tell Harold he didn’t want to see him anymore?

He suddenly started to feel sick. His heart was in his throat.

“How was your break?” John asked.

 _Oh great. Small talk_. Harold thought.

“It was alright…” Harold murmured.

They finally arrived at a bench by a river on campus and John motioned for Harold to sit down, “this looks like a nice, quiet place,” he smiled.

Harold sat down, and he felt his heart start to beat a little faster. The first person he had actually really liked, and now this.

“So, I was thinking over break…” John started.

Harold swallowed hard.

“I think it’d be cool if we like…” He was quiet for a second, trying to figure out how to say it. “If we were like… more exclusive…”

 _Wait… what…?_ Harold’s eyes widened, and he gulped.

“More exclusive?” Harold croaked.

“Yeah,” John smiled.

Harold smiled and started to laugh. His shoulders slumped, and his heart stopped hammering in his chest.

“I take that as a yes?” John chuckled a bit.

“Yes. I’m sorry…” Harold cleared his throat and brought John close to plant a kiss on his lips. John was surprised at first, but then kissed him back.

“I missed you too,” John laughed, kissing Harold on the forehead.

“I thought you were going to tell me you didn’t want to hang out or be together anymore…” Harold murmured, laying his head on John’s shoulder.

“What?” John huffed. “Why would you think that?”

“It’s been a rough break…” Harold chuckled a little. “I’m just glad you… surprised me.”

John put his arm around Harold and pulled him in closer, watching the small river flow in front of them. “Want to talk about it?”

“Not particularly,” Harold whispered.

“Okay…” John sighed, squeezing his shoulder tighter.

#

Harold and John were in the tech room in the library, eating Chinese from their favorite takeout place on campus.

“So, I must say that I’ve been curious as to why you didn’t go to WestPoint,” Harold said out of the blue, his mouth full of noodles.

He had always wanted to ask John, but never really saw the opportunity. He had no idea why he asked right now, it just came out.

John turned to look at him and his head tilted, “It’s a long story…”

“Oh… okay…” Harold murmured, picking his chopsticks back up and turning his attention back to the container of Shrimp Lo Mein.

John frowned and set his container down. He cleared his throat, “I was going to. But then my mom told me she would never let me have a family if I did. She wouldn’t let anyone else go through what we did as an army family.”

Harold frowned and could tell that John was having a tough time with this. The look on his face was the same one he got in the car after their dinner with his father. Harold’s heart ached for him.

“I went to seven different schools. I never had any friends… could never do sports or clubs. The longest I stayed at a school was 2 years, 4th and 5th grade.”

“Oh…” Harold said. He didn’t really know what else to say. He figured that John must have had a pretty rough childhood with his dad likely being gone all the time… but this?

“Yeah. So, I told my dad I wasn’t going to go to WestPoint. I was going to Columbia. He told me I was ruining my life, and he was disappointed in me.”

Harold put his food down and went over behind John to put his hands on his shoulders. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to his cheek, “He is not disappointed in you. No matter what he says or what you think.”

“I know…” John huffed. “You sound like my mother.”

Harold smiled, “Your mother sounds like a very smart person…” He squeezed John’s shoulders and kissed the top of his forehead, “How about we take this back to your dorm? I’m off in five minutes…” Harold grinned.

“Of course,” John grinned back. They hadn’t done anything besides kiss since that day before break and he was looking forward to it. He like being with Harold. Being so close to him. It made something inside him flutter and he got all warm inside.

#

John kissed his way back up Harold’s chest, settled his heavy, warm body in a comfortable position, curled up against Harold’s side, and partway draped over him and slid his hand down under Harold’s waistband.

Harold moaned and trembled inside John’s firm grip, his hips rising and falling against the sweet weight of John’s hand encircling him, handling him exactly the way he liked it, his parted lips moving against John’s own with passionate desire.

Then the door opened, and they heard Fusco start to walk in. They grabbed the blanket on the bed and quickly pulled it up over themselves.

“Hey, hotshot I thought… ahhh jeez…” Fusco groaned and covered his eyes with the back of his arm.

Harold and John just sat there, both their faces red and lips swollen.

“How about next time you put a fricken sock or something on the door…” he rolled his eyes and walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

John looked at Harold’s embarrassed expression with a smirk, “I thought I locked the door…”


	6. Chapter 6

John was trying to call and text Harold for the past two hours, but he hadn’t responded. So he was headed up the stairs of Carman Hall to Harold’s room.

He knocked on the door and Arthur opened it immediately as he was putting his coat on, “Have you seen Harold?” he asked John anxiously.

“Uhh… no? That’s why I was here to see if he was in his room. He’s not answering any of my texts…” John frowned, suddenly his worry spiked for his shy sweetheart.

“Nathan said he got a phone call and then he just took off. He tried to stop him to get more information, but he couldn’t and he disappeared.” Arthur checked his phone one last time and then Nathan appeared.

“You haven’t seen him either?” he asked John right away.

“No… was he upset when he left?” John asked, remembering what Harold had said about having a not so good Christmas break.

“Yeah. He just put his shoes on and took off, just like that! He didn’t even shut the door.”

The three of them headed out of the room and Arthur was busy trying to ping Harold’s phone. They started their search at the library and then went to the cafe, but he wasn’t at either place.

“Wait, I’ve got something…” Arthur spoke up, looking at his phone. “It says his phone is at the outdoor track?”

John and Nathan’s brows furrowed in thought. Why would Harold be at the track? John doubted he was just going for a run… he usually did that through campus. It was also March, so it wasn’t very warm to go outside for a run.

The three off them took off and made their way over to the West side of campus where all the athletic facilities were.

When the track came into view, they saw Harold on the track, running as fast as he could, not slowing down a bit. By the looks of him, he had to have been running for an extended period of time, he looked as if he were ready to fall over from the strain.

Arthur looked at John, “Maybe you should go down there… see what’s going on, we’ll stay up here for now.”

John smiled sadly and headed down to where Harold was, they all knew something was wrong.

When he was standing in Harold’s line of sight, Harold didn’t even seem to notice him. He just ran right past. John could hear his labored breathing and his face was bright red.

“Harold?” John called after him.

Suddenly, Harold stopped and fell to his knees about ten yards away from John.

John ran over to him, falling to his knees as well. Harold looked up at him with tears in his eyes and threw himself at John, almost knocking him over.

John wrapped his arms around the smaller, quaking man. “Hey… hey… what is it?”

All John could make out through the sobbing, was the word “dad.” He just held Harold, giving him all the time he needed.

Arthur and Nathan had run over when Harold fell to his knees, but they had stopped about twenty feet away. They watched on in sadness as John comforted their friend tenderly.

Harold’s tears refused to stop. He couldn’t catch his breath and he started to hyperventilate. John put his hands on either side of his face and tried his best to calm him down. “Harold. Look at me…”

The smaller man looked into John’s ocean blue eyes. “Breathe… in… and out…” John soothed, running his hands up and down Harold’s upper arms.

Harold’s breathing eventually settled down a little and John felt his shoulders relax some. He collapsed into John’s hold, his face pressed against his chest.

“I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s wrong, Harold…” John soothed, running his hands through Harold’s soft brown hair, moving his bangs back away from his forehead. He placed a warm lingering kiss there for a moment, then embraced him again.

Harold cleared his throat and sucked in a deep breath, the sobbing hadn’t stopped, but he’d calmed down some and wasn’t hyperventilating anymore. “My… my dad…” He turned his face further into John’s chest, “he… had a stroke. He… he died.” Harold’s sobs grew louder, “he died, and I… wasn’t there for him.”  

John’s heart dropped. He was speechless. He didn’t know what to say to that. He just pulled Harold closer and murmured encouragements to him until the shaking had all but subsided.

John pulled him up, his arm still around him, “come on. We’re going to freeze out here…” He started to walk forward, his arm around the smaller man, bringing him with him. He walked past Nathan and Arthur, mouthing to them that he was taking Harold back to his room.

They followed, making sure that John was able to get Harold back on his own.

Harold was barely able to walk. John basically had to hold him up. It was like he was a zombie. He just stared at the ground, not saying a word.

Once the two of them were in his room, John led Harold to sit down on his bed and quickly sent a text to Lionel to tell him to stay at Rhonda’s until he told him otherwise. He didn’t tell him why. Harold deserved better than to have this spread around like that.

He walked back over to him and sat down next to him. Harold was just sitting there, staring at the other side of the room.

John put his arm around him and Harold broke down again. It was like John embracing him, made something in him break. John pulled him up onto the bed more and he put his back up against the wall.

Harold was laying in his lap, his head pillowed on John’s thighs. John took his glasses from his face and set them on the bedside table. He ran his hands gently through Harold’s soft brown hair and comforted him as much as he could.

Harold sat up a while later, tears still streaking down his cheeks and looked straight at John. “I love you.”

#

Harold’s chest was on fire and his legs felt like jelly. But he couldn’t stop. He couldn’t stop because then he would have to think. And when he let himself think, he’d think about his dad not being there anymore.

Think about his mother being all alone. Think about how he wasn’t there for her.

Then when he came around the turn on the track, John was there. Standing right in front of him. Now he’d have to tell him about his father.

Tell him that he was dead.

His legs gave out and he fell to the ground. He looked up and John was there. He was trying to talk to him, but it sounded like Harold was under water. He couldn’t hear anything.

He couldn’t hold it in any longer and something inside his chest broke, he started to sob and threw himself at John because he needed some comfort. Some relief to this nightmare.

Then the next thing he knew, he was being led back to John’s dorm with John all but carrying him. He couldn’t walk straight. He didn’t _want_ to walk. He just wanted to go to bed and wake up and having this all be a terrible, terrible nightmare.

John set him down on his bed and then scooted him up so that he was laying in his lap. He was crying again. His eyes were red and swollen, and he couldn’t seem to stop the tears from coming.

Finally, he sat up a little and looked into John’s eyes.

More than ever, he was defenseless against the affection in John’s gaze. It left him raw and exposed, yet he felt better than he had in hours. It confused him and left him reeling, unable to regain his balance when the guilt started filtering back in.

“I love you,” Harold said, a little out of breath and desperate. John didn’t say it back and his heart immediately sank to his stomach. He wanted to get up and leave. He should have never gotten this damn close… this damn vulnerable, to him.

A soft kiss was laid onto his lips, halting the thoughts spinning out of his control. Tears continued to stream down Harold’s face and when John broke the kiss, he wiped them away gently with his thumb.

“Shhh… it’s okay…” John murmured, and his arms wrapped around Harold pulled him even closer to lay down and their legs tangled together. “I’ve got you…”

Harold let the frame-wracking sobs continue, there was no point in trying to stop them. He wouldn’t be able to.

Finally, at about 2 in the morning, he felt his eyes start to get heavy and exhaustion started to take over. John’s arms were still securely wrapped around him.

He wanted to tell John thank you. Tell him that he doesn’t have to do this, doesn’t have to care for him like this… but the darkness creeps in and Harold drifts off to dreamland.

#

John woke up to the sound of Harold shutting the bathroom door.

He woke up and rubbed his eyes, they must have fallen asleep last night. John still had his jeans and jacket on.

He shook the sleepiness and stood up to grab a new shirt and pants. Once he was dressed, Harold emerged out of the bathroom with a slight smile on his face.

“Morning…” John whispered, not sure of how Harold was feeling.

“Morning…” Harold cleared his throat, “thank you… for last night.”

John huffed, “Don’t mention it… do you wanna… talk about it?” he asked. He knew how terrible Harold must be feeling, maybe talking about it might help.

“He had Alzheimer’s. He was getting worse when I left for after break. So, it’s not particularly unexpected or anything like that…” Harold swallowed hard, holding back more tears.

John moved closer and pulled him in for a hug, “That doesn’t make it any easier…”

Harold stayed in the embrace, soaking up the heat and comfort John provided, then he pulled away, “I told my mom I’d be on the first flight out this morning… I have to go…”

John frowned, the thought of Harold and his mother going through this by themselves made his heart ache. Especially for Harold. He didn’t have any brothers or sisters to help him through it or anything.

“I’m coming with you,” John started. “I don’t want you to have to be by yourself.”

Harold’s brow furrowed, “No. John I can’t ask you to do…”

John cut him off, “Harold, you’re not going to win this one. I’m coming with you, whether you like it or not.”

Harold let out a breath and frowned, “Thank you.” He almost sounded relieved.


End file.
